The present invention relates generally to a vehicle seat structure for use with passenger vehicles and more particularly to a gas spring assisted latch assembly which upon release tilts a vehicle seat structure forwardly without passenger assistance providing easier access to selected areas of the vehicle.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,408,798 to Mizushima et al discloses one form of a seat structure applicable for twodoor type vehicles in which a front seat is manually inclinable for forming a passage allowing passenger seating in the rear seat area of the vehicle. In the Mizushima et al structure a pair of rear seat support legs are releasable from the floor panel and pivotally secured to the seat. Actuation means operates to fold the rear legs below the seat in response to inclining the front seat providing easier access to the rear seat area. The Mizushima patent is representative of prior art tiltable seat structures wherein the operation is inconvenient in that a rear seat passenger is required to manually tilt the seat structure forwardly while getting in or out of the vehicle. Also, in cases where the vehicle is parked on an upward grade, for example, it may be necessary for an entering or exiting rear seat passenger to hold the seat in its forwardly tilted position if the pivoted seat's center of gravity is not located overcenter of its pivot axis.